Machine for stacking drinking cups



Y Feb. 25, 1947. I E. CONTl 2,416,381

MACHINE FOR STACKING DRINKING CUPS Original Filed Oct.- 6, 1942 4.Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

Eu ene C onzz' BY j AT T ORJVZYS Feb. 25, 1947. E, CONT 2,416,381

MACHINE FOR STACKING DRINKING CUPS Original Filed Och-6, 1942Sheets-Sheet 2 lNVENTOR Eu ewe Coniz BY I Feb. 25, 1947.

E. coN'n MACHINE FOR STACKING DRINKING CUPS Original Filed 001:. 6, 19424 Sheets-Sheet 5 E ene Coni BY aim,

INVENTOR y Feb. 25, 1947.

E. .CONTI Original Filed Oct. 6, 1942 4.Sheets Sheet 4 INVENTOR- a eneContzfi ATTORNE g l WW9 Patented Feb. 25, 1947 a u I 2,416,381 1 YMACHINE FOR STACKING DRINKING ours Eugene Conti, Jackson Heights, N. Y.,assignor to Herz Manufacturing Corporation, a corporaj. Y tionof NewYork Original application October, 6, 1942, Serial No.- 463,357.'Dividedi and this 'application'June 3, I

t '1944, .Serial'NoL 538591 ."I'he-sub ject matter .of,this ;applicationis divided out of'my co-pending application Serial No.463,357,fi1ed'October6, 1942.

This invention relates to, a, mechanismv for f soiaiins (01.214-6 end.This ro1ler cooperates with stacking drinkingcupslof the vopen mouthtype .Y which cups may be made of paper or somesfuncthe cup and to exertpressure on the flap so tl'iat', qn y quivalent-material, a 7 it issealed. andthe bottom-of. the up 10sed Al j t of the-invention residesin the pro- The rollers ll l function to grip the cup between visionofamechan-ism for and method of, stackthem. v ru 8 f rmd cups in= suchmanner 10' Beyond the rollers U1. which feed the come t hestack will liein a rectilinear, positionI rilet'ed cups from the turret are twohorizontal, rather than in a curvilinear position to" accompairs ofsuitably driven spaced vertically arrangedj D h the advantageous resultshereinafter pointpulleys I16 and I ll, around thepulleysjof whiched'out- V j pair's cooperating, belts I I8 and H9 arearranged A furtherobject-qfthe invention is to provide so that their adjacent horizontalreaches I29 lie a mechanism for, and method of, positively movin contactand moveinl the same direction, 1. e. mg the cups from .a formingjmachine to their away from the rollers H l and. at substantiallyStaCked p0SitiQn S.; ':;"y V a the-samespeed This movement of courseisOtherv objects of -the invention willflappear as caused by driving'thepulleys of the upper horithis S ription progresses and it is thereforeun- 20 zontal pair H5 in a. counterclockwise direction a necessarytohere State themindeta-il. and the pulleysof the lower horizontaljpairill In th'edra wings. v 1. f i in a clockwise direction by asuitablemechanism; Figure 1 is a perspectiverview of one of the cups.-As the completed cup is fed by the rollers Ill of the type to whichthis invention is directed. forwardly the leading edge taken up by theFi ure 2 is ayiew of several cf, the cups stacked. reaches fl o t b l sath WP isied t wa d. Figure 3 i a sectional View of the stackingthedelivery endofjthe machine, being vcarried mechanism, f v a L Y t ybetweenthe reaches lZlJQof the belts with the l i ure 4 is a v'erticalsectional, view ofJthe-l e e 1iv l i vlQ t' i stacking ni m-l rthesereaches and with thehase orbottom of the Eigure cfi -is ayertic'alsectional view tak jat. cup formin the leading edge w v .sright an l s to Figure 3; and t L I A cu v o itioning mechanism islocate yon v-F'igure 61s a sectional view taken on line 6-4; .1 the endsofthe belts an and is ad d of. Figure 5. a a; 1 .l l to receivethe'cupsjfroin these belts. This mechjI 1 -i .my b 'colpen'dingapplication. anism is illustrated in Figures 3, 4 5 and 6 Ity i adisclosed themethod and mechanis includes a stationary support-HI(seeFigures 4 forming cups of the type to which this inventi n "and. 5),having an opening I 22 therein through isdirected, and whileitfisunneces a h which the cups areadap'ted to pass. An os c1l illustrateand. describe that. mechanism it is; at ng delivery dl l m i the 9-:pointed out that ftlie forming"mechanis' f0r plort l2! and is heldinplaceby a rihe lfl. This; a s he cups when'formed'dirctly and posi-40"de1ivery head comprises a base port on and an tively'to the stackingmechanism, as will later extending reduced neck port on 525. The base;be described; v u. r i provided with, an annular Portion I26 which isReference is now made t th drawings.) su'pii'ortd in the upport i2 l onsuitable bearing After each' ot thecups has been partly form surface sothat it' may beioscillated. The base that, is, with its longitudinaledges sealed tois also provided withja circular recess-at I21" ether andthe bottom flap has had adhesive apwhich isflared a t l 23. Additionally the base and j plied to itjthe bottom flap is ready t b foldd neck portions are provided'with s1ots.l2 :9 and l 30 Over so that theadhesive williadhere to the body that extend "at rig l'1t angles to eachother, as eithe'cup and closeits bottom. .This closing is, shown inFigure 12 and extend completely a'ccomplished by a 'pair of pressurerollers 1| I, through the base and. the neck portion longitudb; theupperof which is spring mounted and capabl nally. "The slots 1 29" and 1'30inthe base portion of vertical moiienfent ahd'the lower of which'is ofthe delivery head are enlargedas at I (see d'rivenby suitable inea jfinot shownii These Figure 5) to receive the expanded edges of therollers'arecarrid by. an 'angu1arf1evet:lI2 pivoted cupjth'e expansionof, whichis due to the fact at H3 and which carries'a' roller I onits'lower that'i'lhe lateral edges; as indicated in -Figure 2,

a camll5 onta drivenshaft 102. When the cup reaches aposi tion inalignment withthe space. betweenthe] roller lllQthe leverql I2oscillates toward the bottom of the cupto'fol'd theflap onthe body ofintermesh with teeth I33 on the delivery head. This quadrant: is pivotedatl34 and-its oscillating.

movement is caused and controlled bya cam I35." which cooperates with aroller I36 on the quadrant and a spring I31 which holds the roller I36in engagement with the cam I35.. Thus looking at Figure 5, the quadrantwill be moved to the left by the cam I which will rotate the deliveryhead in a clockwise direction. The quadrant will be moved in theopposite direction to rotate the delivery head in a counterclockwisedirection when the cam I35 moves to assume. the: position;

shown in Figure 5, under the influence of the traili'ng edge I40 lyingbeyond the face of the. ring I24. 7 From this-position Kit is fedintothe position. L by a. mechanism, which will later be described andbeyond this position into the receiyer MI in which it isstacked withother cups. Referringnowto the. mechanism which movesthe cups from theposition. J to the positionK' and directing attention to Figure 3',this, mechanism includes a, bell crank I42 which is ivoted onastationary pivot. at I43... On one arm, of. the bell cranka roller I44.is mounted; which roller rides. upon and cooperates with a'cam I45 ontheshaft I391 0n the. end of the other arm of, the bell. crank a. cupadvancing, finger I46; is'.- ivoted at I41; This. pivotal connection is.such that. frictiona 1, pressure. will. always be exerted. on. the ad.-vancing; finger I46. to. maintain it. inthe. various. positions into.which it. is moved. A pivoted. arm. I48 which is. pivoted on astationary pivot. [43 is provided with. acam I50, connected. with. a.rod.

I51; This Irod carries afroller I52 which. rides. upon and cooperateswitha cam I53 0n theshait. I-39- to move the lever I'48- about. itspivot I49.v

I have described one. advancing finger I46. and

one lever I48 but. it. will be. seen. from Figure. 4

that there are twosuch advancing fingers I46 and. two. such levers I48.

' are preferably not creased but simply rolled and therefore of roundedcircumferential contour. This deivery head is rotated or oscillated by-means of a quadrant gear I32 the teeth of which it is obvious that thetoe portions I54 of the advancing fingers I46 must be moved out of theline of travel of the succeeding cup in order to'prevent theirengagementwith the leading edge of the cup and their interference withthe advance of the cup. As the advancing-fingers: I146. are movedrearwardly by the counterclockwise movement of the end of the lever I42to which the advancing fingers are pivoted, pins I 55 on the advancingfingers I46 engage the cams I on the levers 8:40. As the fingerscontinue to move to a retracted position the cooperating pins I and camsI50 depress the toe portions I54 of the advanci'ng fingers I46 topositions out of the path" of movemeht'of the advancing cup.

After thetoe portions have reached a position beyond the. trailing edgeof the cup when it lies in the. position J tailiportions I 56 on theadvancingiffingers I45 engage abutments I51 so that the continued andfinal movement of the lever I42 causes the fingers I46 to move in acounterclockwise direction in Figure 6 to again 'movethe toe portionsI54 up behind; the trailing edge of .the cup in the position J1 Thecycle is then completed and the cup which at this-time occupies theposition J i'stherrv advanced to the de livery head.

In order that the cup'may beremoved' 'from the delivery head 7 into areceiver and'there stacked I'have provided a delivery plate I58 (seeFigures 4' and 5)' which isprovided' with twoarms at I59 that areadapted to lie behind the trailing edge of the cup when it is intheposition K so that the cup maybe movedtothe receiver z y by thesearms.

This delivery plate is rigidly mounted on a slide I 59" which is adaptedto beqreci'procated' in the frame by the following mechanism. The slidecarries a roller I60 (see Figure 6)" with which a bell crank I 6Ipivoted at I62 cooperates; A

- camroller I63 is mounted on this bell crankand i 'move the deliveryplate I58 from a, position adiag" When the'c'up'is in the position J inFigure 4.

the toes I54 of the. advancing fingers. I46 lie behind: the: trailingedge of thecup, as illustrated in Figure 4, andin the. position shown inFigure The. rotation of the cam I45 rocks the bell crank lever I42 aboutits pivot I43 (see FigureB).

to' move the: end. at. the.- bell. crank lever, that carrice the;advancing. finger; in a. clockwise direction. This movement carriewithit. the advancing; fingers and the. toe portions I54 of. theadvancing fingers; engaging thetrailing. edge of the cup, push the. cupv into the position K (see. Fig

:ur 4).. The pushing of the cupbeyond the. base of; the delivery headinto thi-sposition K. is made possible because of the. presence of the.recess I 21 into; which; the; toe portions: of the advancing fingersmove.

While one cup is. being moved from the. position to-the position Kanother cupisbeing advanced to; the position -I- by the belts, H6 and 1.t9, so that.

. slot I 29, free.

cooperates with a'cam I64". The contact between the end of the bellcrank I6I and the. roller I60 i maintained by"a.spring- F65 and thecontact betweenthe camroller I62 and the cam [64: is maintained by aspring I66. Thus the cam [64 acts through the lever I61 and the rollerI60 to cent the base of the delivery" head to. and beyond the positionshown in Figure 4 of thegdrawing. As the cam rotates, howeventhe,spri'ng166- returns the delivery plate from the position shown'. inFigure 4 to the initial position described; which position isillustrated in Figure 4. in construction lines and is designated by thereference character M; Thus the movement of the delivery" plate I58underthe influence ofthe cam I64 movesthecup toward the'receiver andthismovee ment', beingrapi'd, as: the cup' leaves the reduced. neckportion I25, of. the delivery head the. cup.

is kicked into the receiver and stacked or nestedi.

with other cups that have receiver.

It is here pointed.

previously reached, the;

position shown in Figure. 5... thus covering the. ends of the slotI,3.0"b.ut leaving the horizontal is tied.

After the; cup. reaches.- the position see F-i ure, 4?, where. it liehorizontally in the. sl0t,I.29..

(see Figure 5;), the quadrant I32 rotates. thed'e-I. liyeiy. head in aclockwise. direction so. that the..

out'that when a cup isbein'g moved into the'd'elivery head, the arms159. 0% the delivery plate lie in thedotted zonstruction line position.shownv in Figure 4 and in the- 7 It. isinto this slot 129 that. the'cupI30 in Figure 5. This partial rotation of thedelivery head carries thecup; with it sothat the cup is moved from a horizontal position to avertical position and the arm I59 of the delivery gl plate I58 lies,behindthe trailing edge of the cup sothat when the delivery plate is'advancedithe cup will be pushed forwardly to the receiver;

oAs hasbeen pointed out, the overlappin'gedges of..the wings and 6.of;the' cup, that is to say, thellongitudinal seam ,0fithe cupliesbetween the belts H8 and H9 so that it is fed to the delivery headsubstantially coaxial with the head and with the seam downwardly.

Looking at Figure 5, when the slot 129 with the cup therein is moved tothe vertical position, the seam of the cup will lie to the left of thevertical and in this position the cup is moved into the receiver. When,however, the delivery head with the next cup positioned therein isrotated in the opposite direction the cup, which is received by the slotI30 when it is in its horizontal position, is moved with the deliveryhead so that the seam of the cup lies to the right of the vertical andin this position it is moved into the stack and nested.

Thus the seams on the alternate cups will be on the opposite sides ofthe stack and the stack will therefore, and because of this alternatearrangement of the seams, assume a rectilinear rather than a curvilinearcondition from which flow the advantages which have been heretoforepointed out.

In the drawings I have illustrated the cup as having the seam extendinglongitudinally or lengthwise th reof and parallel with the lengthwiseaxis of the cup. However, I wish it to be understood that when I referto a longitudinal seam I am not confining myself to one that extendsparallel to the lengthwise axis of the cup for indeed it may extend atan angle to the axis and even then not completely from the top to thebottom'of the cup. The invention in some of it phases is stillapplicable to and contemplates the formation and stacking of the cupwhich has its seam extending more nearly cross- Wise than lengthwise ofthe cup.

While I have illustrated and described a particular machine as embodyingone phase of my invention, and also detailed steps of the method, it isto be understood that I do not wish. to be limited to the constructionof the particular machine disclosed and described or to the detailedmethod except in so far as this is necessitated by the claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a cup forming machine including means for forming a series of cupseach having a seam extending longitudinally on one side thereof, thecombination of a cup stack receiver, means for positively moving thecups in succession into stacked nested relation in said receiver'with.the seams of alternate cups on opposite sides of the stack, means forpositively delivering said series of cups into position to be engagedand moved by said cup moving means, said cup moving means including a,rotatable head having cup re ceiving slots arranged in angular relationto each other, and passing longitudinally therethrough, means forrotating said head alternately in op posite directions to vary theangular position of successive cups carried thereby, and means operatingafter each rotation of said head for moving the "successive cupspositively'from sai'd hea'ci" to form a stack of cups in said receiven-2. In a cup forming machine including means for forming a series-ofcupseach having a seam extending longitudinally on one side thereof, thecombination of a cup stack receiver, means for positively'm'oving' thecups in succession *into stacked nested relation in said receiver'withthe" seams of alternate cups on oppositesides of the stack, means forpositively delivering "said series of cups-into position to-beengagedand moved by said cup, moving means-, said cup moving means including arotatable he'ad having slots arranged in"angular relation "toeachothenand passing longitudinally therethrough to receive the cups'from-the delivery means, means for rotating said head alternately inopposite directions to vary the angular position of successive cupscarried thereby so that the position of their seams is reversed in thereceiver and to bring said cups into position to be delivered from saidhead, and

means for thereafter moving the successive cups positively to form astack in said receiver, said last mentioned means including areciprocable delivery member having arms adapted to engage the trailingends of the successive cups as the latter are in said delivery position.

3. In a cup forming machine including means for forming a seriesof cupseach having a seam extending longitudinally on one side thereof, thecombination of a cup stack receiver, means for positively moving thecups into stacked nested relation in said receiver with the seams ofalternate Guns On opposite sides of the stack, means for positivelydelivering said series of cups into position to be engaged and moved bysaid cup moving means, said cup moving means including a rotatable headhaving slots arranged in angular relation to each other, and passinglongitudinally therethrough to receive the cups from the cup deliveringmeans, means for rotating said head alternately in opposite directionsto positively move the successive cups carried thereby into deliveringposition and so that'the position of their seams is reversed, and meansfor thereafter moving the successive cups positively to form a stack insaid receiver, said last mentioned means including a reciprocabledelivery member having arms adapted to engage the trailing ends of thesuccessive cups when in delivery position said delivery means beingactuated to move the successive cups into said rotatable head to such adegreethat the trailing end of each successive cup lies beyond thestarting position of -the arms of said delivery member whereby saidrotatable head may be rotated without the said arms interfering with thecup carried thereby.

4. In cup stacking mechanism for use with cup forming machines, or thelike, which produce cups having a seam extending longitudinally on oneside thereof, the combination'of a cup stack receiver, means for feeding.cups one after another and with said seam uniformly arranged in thesame relation thereto, a rotatable cup holder having one end positionedand adapted to receive cups from said feeding means, means foralternately rotating said cup holder first in one direction and then inthe opposite direction to change the angular position of cups deliveredsuccessively to said receiving end thereof, and means movable inrelation to said rotatable cup holder toward said receiver and intoengagement with a ents-nae 1 cupsdisposed? om opposite sides or. theresulting" stack of cups. t i

5; In- =cup' stacking mechanismfor usev with eup cups having a'seamextending longitudinally on 1 oneside thereof", the combination of a cupstack forming machines, or the like, which. produce receiver, arotatable cup holder having, intersect- L in the other of said slots is;being moved toward said cup stack receiver, and means for" rotatingEUGENE CON'ITI.

: ing; cup receiving and guidingslots, means for 1 feeding a cup intoone of said slots. while a cup-16 REFERENCES CITED The followingreferences are of" record mew file of this patent-T I UNIfIED STATESPATENTS

